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y^H^'l 


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Frontier   Folk. 


BY 

GEORGE  BOOTH. 


REPRINTED   FROM   THE 


International  Review  for  July,  1880. 


NEW  YORK: 
A.  S.  BARNES  AND  COMPANY. 


Copyright,  1880, 
By  a.  S.  Barnes  and  Company. 


FRONTIER    FOLK. 


"\T  ^HAT  do  we  mean  by  the  frontier  ?  And 
^  what,  by  frontier  folk  ?  The  terms  came  into 
vogue  when  tolerably  well-defined  lines  marked 
the  onset  of  civilization  at  the  far  West,  and  all 
beyond  was  wilderness.  Yet  to-day,  with  settle- 
ments scattered  over  all  the  Territories,  the  phrase 
loses  none  of  its  significance.  It  still  has  a  geo- 
graphical import,  and  another,  deeper  than  the 
geographical,  suggesting  a  peculiar  civilization  and 
a  certain  characteristic  mode  of  life.  It  does  not 
bring  to  mind  those  prosperous  colonies  whose 
lands,  surveyed,  secured  by  good  legal  titles,  and 
freed  from  danger  of  savage  inroads,  have  a  perma- 
nent population  busily  engaged  in  founding  homes. 
It  takes  us  rather  to  the  boundaries  of  the  Indian 
reservations,  along  which  scattered  camps  and  set- 
tlements of  white  men  are  fringed  ;  to  lands  which, 
though  legally  open  for  settlement,  are  constantly 
menaced   by  Indians ;   to   those   strange,   shifting 


4  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

communities  which  sometimes,  like  Jonah's  gourd, 
spring  up  in  a  night  only  to  wither  away  in  a  day. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper  to  present  a  sketch 
of  the  life  and  people  of  this  frontier  region  as  the 
writer  has  become  familiar  with  them,  depicting  the 
types  and  manners  of  mankind,  and  leaving  for  more 
profound  narrators  the  matters  of  statistical  detail. 

Social  estimation  and  intercourse  on  the  frontier 
are  based  upon  a  very  short  acquaintance.  A  large 
and  catholic  charity  presumes  every  man  to  be  that 
which  he  desires  to  appear.  To  pry  into  the  secret 
history  of  his  former  life,  to  pass  hostile  criticisms 
on  it  even  when  known  to  be  discreditable,  is  not 
considered  a  public-spirited  act ;  for  those  turbulent 
energies  or  uncontrolled  passions  which  drove  him 
out  of  eastern  communities  may  prove  of  great  ser- 
vice to  that  new  country  to  which  he  has  come. 
The  first  element  of  success  in  a  frontier  settle- 
ment is  that  a  sufficient  number  of  nomads  should 
be  willing  to  sustain  each  other  in  the  belief  that 
"  this  spot  is  to  be  a  city  and  a  centre."  The  news 
that  a  considerable  group  is  already  gathered  on 
any  such  foreordained  and  favored  spot  brings 
others ;  nor  do  the  arrivals  cease  until  a  day 
comes  when  it  is  bruited  abroad  that  some  of 
the  "  first  citizens  "  have  revised  their  views  of  its 
glorious  destiny,  and  have  left  it  for  a  new  Eden. 
The  sojourner  in  such  regions  —  he  cannot  be 
called  an  inhabitant  —  lives  in  expectation  of  the 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  5 

coming  settler  who  will  pay  him  cash  for  his 
"  claim " ;  or  else  perhaps  he  devotes  himself  to 
discovering  a  lode  or  a  placer,  which,  if  disposed 
of,  may  put  him  in  funds  for  a  year's  spree  ;  or 
again  he  may  be  a  trapper,  perpetually  shifting  his 
place  as  the  peltry  grows  scarce.  These  indicate 
the  respectable  callings  or  expectancies  of  the  solid 
men  in  frontier  life  ;  but  they  are  surrounded  by  a 
larger  throng  of  men,  who  hang  about  settlements 
with  the  possible  hope  of  an  honest  El  Dorado,  but 
who  in  the  meantime,  and  until  this  shall  come, 
take  to  the  surreptitious  borrowing  of  horses  with- 
out leave,  or  to  the  industries  of  the  faro-table,  or 
to  the  "  road  agency,"  by  which  phrase  is  signified 
the  unlawful  collection  of  a  highway  toll  amounting 
usually  to  whatever  of  value  the  traveller  may  have 
about  him.  There  are  no  superfluous  refinements 
and  gradations  in  frontier  society.  The  citizen 
is  either  "an  elegant  gentleman"  or  a  liar  and  a 
horse-thief.  Yet  even  people  of  the  latter  descrip- 
tion are  rarely  molested  unless  taken  in  the  actual 
practice  of  their  profession,  which  they  ply,  to  say 
the  truth,  with  such  discrimination  as  to  make  in- 
terference with  them  difficult ;  but  if  caught  in  the 
very  act  and  overpowered,  their  fate  is  sudden  — 
they  are  "got  rid  of." 

In  fact,  homicide  on  the  frontier,  as  compared 
with  horse-stealing,  is  a  peccadillo.  The  horse  has 
a  positive  value  ;  the  thief,  a  negative  one.    Justice 


6  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

does  not  pursue  the  man  who  slays  his  fellow  in 
a  quarrel ;  but  if  it  grasps  the  stealer  of  a  purse  on 
the  prairie  or  of  a  horse  from  the  herd,  his  last  day 
has  come.  Yet  he  always  has  the  chance  of  escap- 
ing capture,  and  of  playing  in  other  frontier  cities 
the  role  of  "elegant  gentleman"  on  his  earnings, 
reimbursing  himself  in  a  professional  way ;  and  he 
may  continue  in  this  career  even  if  suspected,  pro- 
vided he  does  not  ply  his  vocation  in  those  commu- 
nities which  he  honors  with  his  presence  when  not 
engaged  in  prosecuting  his  business.  Personal  vio- 
lence is,  however,  mostly  confined  to  instances 
where  it  is  for  the  profit  of  the  aggressor.  The 
traditional  free-fight,  or  killing  a  man  at  sight,  is 
rare,  probably  much  rarer  than  in  the  Southwest. 
Benton,  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri,  was 
the  place  where,  according  to  the  story,  the  early 
morning  visitor  at  the  bar-room,  before  it  had  been 
swept  out,  expressed  his  surprise,  although  he  knew 
the  soil  to  be  good  for  vegetables,  at  the  excellence 
of  its  fruit,  judging  from  the  large  size  of  the 
grapes  he  saw  on  the  floor,  when  he  was  informed, 
"  Stranger,  them's  eyes  !  "  —  the  results  of  the  pre- 
ceding evening's  amusement.  Yet  in  two  visits  to 
Benton  the  writer  saw  not  the  least  sign  of  violence 
even  in  amusement,  although  he  would  be  sorry  to 
have  some  Bentonians  around  his  camp  at  night  if 
the  horses  were  not  well  guarded,  or  to  meet  them 
on  the  prairie  without  sufficient  protection. 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  7 

If  a  settlement  becomes  permanent  and  prosper- 
ous, whether  through  commerce,  mining,  or  agricul- 
ture, the  first  settlers  sell  out  as  soon  as  they  can 
get  cash  in  hand,  and  seek  new  domains.  There 
are  men  who  have  passed  their  manhood  in  taking 
out  claims,  building  ranches,  and  "  realizing "  for 
better  or  for  worse,  on  a  journey  from  Texas  to 
Montana,  sometimes  taking  in  California  by  the 
way.  Very  often  the  wife,  children,  and  stock  of 
the  pilgrim  accompany  him.  Often  a  cabin  is  put 
up  and  inhabited  by  a  family,  with  a  retinue  of 
cattle,  horses,  pigs,  and  poultry  in  the  barn,  only 
to  be  deserted  the  next  year  on  the  mere  report  of 
some  better  claim  to  be  found  further  on.  There 
never  sefems  to  be  any  real  misery  among  these 
shiftless  people.  Their  children  grow  up  sturdy 
and  ignorant,  their  stock  and  chickens  multiply  as 
they  journey  on.  It  may  be  a  new  stage-route 
which  gives  them  a  year's  sustenance,  such  as  it  is, 
by  their  squatting  on  good  enough  grass-land  to  be 
able  to  fill  a  hay  contract.  Or  they  may  go  to  a 
point  near  which  some  new  military  post  is  about 
to  be  built,  where  they  can  raise  some  vegetables 
to  sell  to  the  troops  before  the  company  gardens 
become  productive.  Or  they  may  take  out  a 
claim  on  some  really  good  spot,  where  permanent 
settlers  speedily  follow  them.  But  as  soon  as  they 
can  see  flour,  bacon,  and  tobacco,  and  find  a  little 
in  the  pocket  for  whiskey  and  clothes,  sufficient  to 


8  FRONTIER   FOLK. 

last  for  a  year  ahead,  off  they  go  again,  —  not  so 
much  like  gypsies,  who  will  often  revisit  the  same 
spot,  as  like  the  Wandering  Jew,  pursued  by  an 
avenging  angel,  driving  them  from  contact  with 
steady  and  methodical  people.  Their  household 
stuff  is  packed  in  their  "  prairie  schooners,"  as  their 
wagons  are  called,  and  on  they  move  by  easy  stages, 
seldom  taking  the  trouble  to  pitch  a  tent  at  night, 
the  women  sleeping  in  the  wagons  and  the  men  on 
the  ground  beneath  them.  There  is  plenty  of  grass 
for  the  stock,  and  the  weather  is  pleasant.  There 
is  no  especial  hurry  or  worry  :  it  is  only  necessary 
to  reach  somewhere,  in  time  to  put  up  a  log  hut 
and  a  shed  for  the  stock,  for  the  winter's  shelter. 
The  little  army  of  the  United  States,  spread  over  a 
country  as  large  as  the  Roman  Empire,  does  its 
duty  so  well  that  there  is  only  occasional  danger 
from  Indians  roaming  away  fropi  their  reservations, 
and  the  military  telegraphs  are  now  so  far  extended 
that  timely  warning  is  usually  given  if  war  parties 
are  out.  So  on  they  go,  day  after  day,  while  at 
night  comes  an  encampment  which  perhaps  may  be 
best  described  in  these  humorous  words  of  Captain 
Derby,  in  "  Phoenixiana,"  during  a  criticism  upon  a 
supposititious  performance  of  an  opera  called  "  The 
Plains"  :  — 

The  train  now  encamps.  The  unpacking  of  the  kettles 
and  mess-pans,  the  unyoking  of  the  oxen,  the  gathering  about 
of  various  camp-fires,  the  frizzling  of  the  pork,  are  so  clearly 


FRONTIER   FOLK.  9 

expressed  by  the  music  that  the  most  untutored  savage  could 
readily  comprehend  it.  Indeed,  so  vivid  and  lifelike  was  the 
representation  that  a  lady  sitting  near  us  involuntarily  ex- 
claimed aloud  at  a  certain  passage,  "  Thar,  that  pork 's  burn- 
ing ! "  and  it  was  truly  interesting  to  watch  the  gratified 
expression  qi  her  face  when,  by  a  few  notes  of  the  guitar, 
the  pan  was  removed  from  the  fire,  and  the  blazing  pork  ex- 
tinguished. This  is  followed  by  the  beautiful  aria,  "  O  marm, 
I  want  a  pancake,"  followed  by  that  touching  recitative, 
"  Shet  up,  or  I  will  spank  you  !  "  To  which  succeeds  a  grand 
crescendo  movement,  representing  the  flight  of  the  child  with 
the  pancake,  the  pursuit  of  the  mother,  and  the  final  arrest 
and  summary  punishment  of  the  former,  represented  by  the 
rapid  and  successive  strokes  of  the  Castanet.  The  turning-in 
for  the  night  follows  ;  and  the  deep  and  stertorous  breathing 
of  the  encampment  is  well  given  by  the  bassoon,  while  the 
sufferings  and  trials  of  an  unhappy  father  with  an  unpleasant 
infant  are  touchingly  set  forth  by  the  cornet  d  piston. 

Nomadic  habits,  slight  contact  with  anything 
human  that  is  permanent,  and  freedom  from  the 
restraint  which  would  be  caused  by  the  propinquity 
of  neighbors,  have  fortified  these  people  in  self- 
conceit.  Although  they  will  in  a  few  months 
desert  all  their  acres  for  something  more  distant, 
yet  the  traveller  who  stops  at  their  cabin  and  pays 
for  bad  food  is  required  to  "  allow "  that  he  has 
never  seen  a  finer  "  claim  "  or  tasted  better  victuals. 
In  truth,  never  was  good  food  so  spoiled.  The 
best  venison  of  the  country  is  sliced  thin,  put  on 
cold  grease  in  a  frying-pan  (they  never  think  of 
first  boiling  the  grease),  and  fried  until  it  is  as 
tough  as  a  chip  and  as  full  of  grease  as  an  English- 


lO  FRONTIER   FOLK. 

man's  crumpet.  Once  in  Colorado  a  request  to 
have  an  egg  boiled  was  encountered  by  the  state- 
ment that  "  the  lady  knew  how  to  cook  eggs  —  she 
fried  'em."  And  fried  they  were,  being  put  in  cold 
lard  in  proportions  of  three  of  lard  to  one  of  egg. 
Another  "  lady,"  at  the  hint  that  a  gridiron  might 
be  used  instead  of  the  frying-pan  for  the  venison, 
seeing  an  army  officer  present,  remarked,  "  If  you 
can't  eat  what  we  eat,  you  can  go  without.  Don't 
see  the  use  of  troops  anyhow.  We  pay  for  you. 
Understand  Sitting  Bull  is  going  to  Canada  to  fight 
Fenians.  He  will  find  somebody  to  fight  there  — 
never  did  here  !  As  t"he  woman  was  paid  five  times 
the  worth  of  her  victuals,  and  as  she,  her  "  par " 
and  her  "  mar "  could  not  have  remained  twelve 
hours  in  their  cabin  had  the  military  post  near  by 
been  withdrawn,  her  sarcasms  were  a  little  ill-con- 
sidered. These  much-isolated  people  look  upon 
themselves  as  Nature's  aristocracy.  Perhaps  if 
Robinson  Crusoe  were  a  king,  they  might  be  feudal 
barons.  Their  social  standing  is  sustained  only  by 
lack  of  neighbors.  But  on  their  own  dunghill  they 
have  none  to  overcrow  them.- 

The  occasional  traveller  who  may  have  been  told 
that  there  were  ranches  on  his  trail,  and  that  he 
need  not  take  tents  or  camp  equipage  for  cooking, 
will,  if  he  be  new  to  these  people,  or  have  regard 
for  his  digestion,  find  to  his  disgust  that  during  his 
stay  he  is  a  vassal  at  the  castle  of  Giant  Despair. 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  II 

He  is  alluded  to  by  his  host  as  a  "  tender-foot,"  — 
a  word  which  is  supposed  to  sum  up  everything 
that  is  contemptible.  He  may  have  scaled  Alps  or 
marched  with  armies,  but  a  "  tender-foot "  he  will 
be  in  the  estimation  of  his  host,  until  he  may  be 
forced  by  circumstances  to  live  a  hundred  miles 
further  out  than  any  one  else,  or  unless  he  learns 
to  carry  food  to  his  mouth  with  his  knife.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  only  term  of  opprobrium  which  can 
be  felt  by  these  people  is  that  of  "  Missourian." 
Why  this  should  be  so  construed  it  is  difficult  to 
say ;  but  the  name  seems  to  imply  all  that  is  worth- 
less and  disagreeable.  Settlers  from  Virginia  and 
from  Georgia  are  sure  on  first  acquaintance  to  in- 
form you  of  their  place  of  nativity  with  a  pride 
which  assumes  that  to  have  been  born  there  fur- 
nishes them  with  blue  blood  ;  but  the  Missourian 
only  mentions  the  last  place  he  tarried  at  on  his 
journey  to  "the  setting  sun"  as  the  spot  he  hails 
from.  Some  of  these  good  people,  particularly 
those  who  left  Missouri  during  the  war,  seem  to 
forget  that  fifteen  years  have  passed  since  that  con- 
flict ended.  Their  isolation  has  given  them  plenty 
of  time  and  opportunity  to  brood  over  the  wrongs 
of  the  South,  with  none  to  assuage  their  wrath  ;  and 
they  are  still  as  bitter  against  "  abolitionists  "  and 
"  Lincoln's  hirelings "  as  in  the  days  when  such 
things  were. 

The  miners  and  prospectors  are  a  much  more 


12  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

agreeable  class.  Their  summer  is  passed  amid 
wild  scenery  and  in  a  country  abounding  in  game, 
in  pursuit  of  a  fortune  which  may  possibly  be  at- 
tained by  one  among  a  hundred.  These  men  find 
a  fascination  in  their  way  of  life,  and,  though  in  the 
main  unsuccessful,  continue  it  as  long  as  health 
and  age  permit.  They  pass  their  winter  in  some 
town  where  they  earn  enough  to  purchase  an  outfit, 
namely,  gunpowder,  coffee,  flour,  sugar,  and  bacon 
sufficient  for  the  summer's  campaign,  and  a  jack, 
as  the  donkey  is  called,  to  carry  the  pack.  Select- 
ing a  spot  for  their  centre  of  operations,  a  small 
shanty  is  soon  built,  and  the  summer  passes  with 
much  climbing,  and  much  breaking  of  rock  that 
suggests  wealth,  while  they  keep  a  keen  eye  for 
game  and  preserve  a  romantic  belief  in  the  speedy 
finding  of  a  fortune.  Such  men  cordially  welcome 
the  tourist,  and  gladly  share  whatever  they  have 
with  him,  excepting  blankets,  which  every  man  is 
expected  to  carry  for  himself.  They  beguile  his 
evening  by  relating  quaint  experiences,  and  hint 
solemnly  of  a  spot  where  wealth  beyond  description 
can  be  found.  They  usually  work  in  couples,  each 
calling  the  other  "  pard  "  ;  and  very  faithful  each 
pard  is  to  his  fellow,  becoming  only  more  attached 
in  case  of  sickness  or  disaster.  They  are,  as  a  rule, 
an  honest  and  manly  race,  leading  a  life  which 
brings  out  many  good  qualities,  especially  hospital- 
ity, and,  in  injury  or  illness,  even  of  a  stranger,  care, 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  1 3 

kindness,  and  tenderness.  There  is  no  monotony 
in  their  career.  Each  day  brings  its  incidents, 
greater  or  less,  and  is  cheered  by  the  belief  that 
the  bona7tza  is  near  at  hand.  Geographical  dis- 
tances are  nothing  to  them.  Fear  they  have  none. 
It  is  a  common  sight  to  see  a  couple  of  "  pards  "  on 
foot,  driving  the  two  jacks  which  carry  all  their 
worldly  possessions,  trudging  through  an  Indian 
country,  and  informing  you,  perhaps,  in  answer  to 
your  inquiry,  that  they  have  come  from  the  San 
Juan  country  in  Southern  Colorado,  an.d  are  bound 
for  the  Bear  Paw  Mountains  in  Northern  Montana, 
as  they  have  heard  that  gold  can  be  panned  there. 
Many  of  them  have  paced  the  line  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  as  far  as  they  lie  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States. 

In  gold-washings,  towns  spring  up  as  rapidly  as 
Leadville  has  done,  but  the  washings  being  simply 
on  the  surface  and  soon  exhausted,  the  population 
migrates  to  other  points.  The  once  populous 
town  of  Georgia,  in  the  Middle  Park  in  Colorado, 
which  was  built  by  gold-washers,  is  still  standing, 
with  its  Town  Hall,  two  theatres,  and  streets  of 
log-houses,  and  is  now  without  a  solitary  inhabit- 
ant. Of  course  its  Town  Hall  and  theatres  were 
of  very  simple  wooden  construction,  but  they  were 
once  really  used  for  the  purposes  their  names 
imply. 

In  a  new  town  which  is  brevetted  a  "  city  "  as 


14  FRONTIER   FOLK. 

soon  as  there  is  more  than  one  house,  the  rumseller 
follows  hard  on  the  footsteps  of  the  settler ;  then 
comes  the  lawyer,  who  immediately  runs  as  can- 
didate for  county  offices,  foments  grievances,  and 
shows  each  man  how  he  can  get  the  better  of  his 
neighbor.  If  there  be  a  military  post  near  by,  the 
officers  are  good  game  for  him,  they  being  pecuni- 
arily responsible,  and  obliged  to  obey  the  laws, 
which  seem  to  be  so  construed  as  to  enable  a  sheriff 
to  arrest  a  whole  column  of  troops  even  if  setting 
out  on  a  campaign.  The  lawyer's  process  of  getting 
money  out  of  the  military  officers  is  easy  and  very 
simple.  A  practitioner  secures  a  witness  who  will 
depose  to  anything,  perjury  being  looked  on  more 
as  a  joke  than  as  a  crime,  and  so  never  punished. 
The  action  or  suit  may  be  for  pretty  much  any- 
thing ;  it  was,  in  one  case,  for  the  alleged  illegal 
detention  of  an  animal  which  the  learned  judge 
described  as  a  "Rhone  ox,"  further  stating  that 
such  detention  was  a  "  poenel "  offence.  But  the 
unfortunate  officer  who  obeys  the  summons,  how- 
ever ridiculous  may  be  the  cause  of  action,  must 
employ  one  of  the  horde  of  lawyers  to  defend  him, 
so  that,  whichever  way  the  suit  may  be  decided,  he 
at  least  is  compelled  to  contribute  something  to  the 
support  of  the  frontier  bar.  In  the  Territories 
justice  is  enforced  when  the  United  States  judge 
of  the  district  comes  on  his  circuit,  but  there  is  no 
redress  or  compensation  for  the  worry  and  expense 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  1 5 

of  litigation.  If  damages  could  be  given  against 
the  concocter  of  the  conspiracy,  it  would  be  difficult 
to  find  any  property  to  satisfy  the  claim,  and  a  hint 
of  punishment  would  only  cause  him  to  remove  to 
some  other  place.  The  army  officer  on  the  frontier 
has  a  soldier's  dread  of  legal  complications,  and 
may  be  made  thoroughly  unhappy  by  suits  which 
in  the  East  would  only  be  laughed  at.  A  general 
idea  of  law  is  taught  at  West  Point,  but  not  more 
than  one  third  of  the  commissions  are  held  by  grad- 
uates of  the  Military  Academy,  and  these  graduates 
find  their  general  knowledge  of  law  speedily  grow- 
ing rusty,  while  it  never  included  the  minute  de- 
tails of  the  kind  of  suits  to  which  they  are  subjected 
by  frontier  pettifoggers.  With  fewer  opportunities 
than  the  business  man  at  the  East  of  knowing  the 
nature  of  court  practice,  they  fall  victims  to  any 
attorney  who  brazenly  begins  a  prosecution  founded 
on  his  own  familiarity  with  legal  tricks  and  the 
assumed  wrongs  of  his  client.  Nothing,  for  ex- 
ample, is  more  common  than  for  ranches  to  be 
damaged  and  hay  or  grain  burned  through  the  care- 
lessness of  emigrants,  hunters,  or  other  people  who 
have  camped  near  by,  and  on  breaking  camp  have 
left  the  camp-fire  to  take  care  of  itself :  a  wind 
springing  up  fans  the  embers  into  sparks,  and  these 
set  fire  to  the  dry  grass.  Now,  although  troops  on 
the  march  are  by  strict  orders  compelled,  on  breaking 
camp,  to  extinguish  their  fires  with  water  or  by  cov- 


1 6  FRONTIER   FOLK. 

ering  them  with  earth,  the  ranchman  who  can  show 
a  burned  fence  or  scorched  barn  (knowing  that  dur- 
ing the  term  of  his  natural  life  he  might  sue  any- 
body else  but  an  army  officer  any  number  of  times 
without  ever  actually  recovering  damages)  immedi- 
ately finds  out  what  military  command  has  been 
within  some  miles  of  his  ranch  during  some  days  or 
weeks  before  the  fire,  and  straightway  goes  to  a 
lawyer  and  swears  that  the  fire  was  set  by  the  troops. 
He  brings  eager  witnesses  to  show  that  the  fire  trav- 
elled just  the  requisite  number  of  miles  in  the 
requisite  number  of  days,  and  that  the  barn  or  house, 
if  burnt  up,  was  magnificent  in  all  its  appointments 
and  of  palatial  proportions.  Suit  is  begun  before 
the  nearest  judge  for  real,  imaginary,  or  conse- 
quential damages  against  the  officer  in  command  of 
the  accused  troops.  This  officer  may  know  the 
charge  to  be  trumped  up,  but  he  is  liable  to  be  ar- 
rested and  to  have  his  property  attached  ;  and  thus 
he  is  subjected  to  such  worry  as  will  usually  induce 
him  to  submit  to  the  most  unjust  drafts  on  his 
slender  purse.  If  the  writer  has  dwelt  at  length 
on  this  feature  of  frontier  life,  it  is  because  the 
abuse  is  keenly  felt  by  army  officers,  and  yet  is 
hardly  suspected  at  the  East. 

It  is  a  common  mistake  to  suppose  that  an  army 
officer  on  the  frontier  leads  an  idle  life.  Rarely  is 
more  than  one  of  the  three  officers  of  a  company 
present  with  it,  and  this  one  must  accordingly  at- 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  1 7 

tend  every  day  to  all  the  company  duties.  The 
other  two  officers  may  be  detailed  on  special  ser- 
vice, such  as  commissary  or  quartermaster's  duties 
(and  the  latter  in  a  new  post  will  be  no  sinecure)  or 
attendance  on  court-martial,  or  searching  where 
lime  can  be  found  ;  or  they  may  be  on  the  sick  list, 
or  guarding  the  wagon-train  which  brings  supplies 
to  the  post,  or  absent  on  the  leaves  which  are 
granted  after  continuous  service.  It  is  not  infre- 
quent for  cavalry  to  be  six  or  eight  months  on  a 
campaign  without  seeing  a  permanent  camp,  much 
less  a  post  where  any  of  the  comforts  of  civilization 
can  be  found.  With  small  bodies  of  troops,  where 
there  are  but  few  officers  to  form  society  for  one 
another,  the  life  becomes  fearfully  monotonous 
and  dreary. 

Old  posts  are  deserted  and  new  ones  built  so 
frequently  that  there  is  little  danger  of  officers  or 
men  stagnating  through  idleness,  even  were  Indian 
hostilities  less  abundant.  An  appropriation  by 
Congress  for  a  new  post  does  not  represent  more 
than  a  third  of  the  real  expenditure.  The  other 
two  thirds  are  supphed  "in  kind,"  that  is  to  say, 
by  soldiers'  labor.  The  money  appropriation  is 
only  expended  for  such  things  as  the  soldiers  can- 
not produce  themselves.  They  cut  the  timber,  run 
saw-mills,  dig  drains,  make  bricks  and  mortar,  carry 
hods,  and  plaster  the  inside  of  houses.  The  cavalry- 
man is  fortunate  if  he  can  leave  off  digging  long 


1 8  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

enough  to  groom  his  own  horse.  Frequently  one 
man  is  detailed  to  groom,  feed,  and  take  to  water 
the  horses  of  several  of  his  comrades.  The  Amer- 
ican soldier  on  the  frontier  is  certainly  a  wonderful 
being.  He  is  at  most  times  a  day-laborer,  slouchy 
in  his  bearing  and  slovenly  in  his  dress.  His  one 
good  suit  must  be  saved  for  guard-mounting,  when 
his  turn  comes,  or  for  inspection  ;  and  the  nature 
of  his  unmilitary  vocations  uses  up  his  uniforms 
faster  than  his  clothing  allowance  can  furnish  them. 
He  has  little  or  no  real  drill,  and  has  been  known 
to  go  into  action  without  previously  having  pulled 
the  trigger  of  his  rifle.  He  has  not  the  mien  or 
bearing  of  a  soldier,  —  in  military  parlance,  is  not 
well  set  up.  He  performs  the  same  manual  labor 
for  which  the  civilian  who  works  beside  him  earns 
three  times  his  wages.  The  writer  has  seen  cavalry 
recruits,  whose  company  was  ordered  to  march,  re- 
called from  the  woods,  where  they  were  employed 
at  a  saw-mill  which  supplied  planks  for  some  new 
buildings  at  the  post,  and  where  they  had  passed 
all  their  time  since  their  arrival.  On  joining  their 
command  they  were  put  on  their  horses  for  the 
first  time,  and  started  off,  armed  with  carbines  they 
had  never  fired,  on  a  march  of  over  eight  hundred 
miles.  If  the  recruit  gives  his  horse  a  sore  back, 
he  will  have  to  foot  it ;  if  he  encounters  Indians,  he 
must  fight  as  best  he  can. 

Yet  in  spite  of  this  treatment,  —  which  is  virtu- 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  1 9 

ally  a  breach  of  contract  by  the  Government,  since 
the  recruit  is  led  to  suppose  on  his  enlistment  that 
he  is  to  be  a  soldier  and  not  a  hod-carrier,  —  in 
spite  of  his  rarely  being  taught  his  profession,  or 
shown  how  to  become  skilled  in  arms  or  horseman- 
ship, the  American  soldier  is  subordinate,  quick  to 
obey,  ready  in  expedients,  uncomplaining,  capable 
of  sustaining  great  fatigue,  brave  and  trustworthy 
in  action.  The  previous  lack  of  drill  causes  much 
difficulty  for  company  officers  when  in  battle,  as  the 
recruit  must  then  be  taught  on  the  spur  of  the  mo- 
ment what  ought  to  have  been  drilled  into  him  in 
camp,  where  in  fact  his  time  has  been  spent  in 
wielding  a  trowel.  But  history,  even  up  to  to-day, 
shows  that  the  knight  of  the  hod  faces  any  odds  of 
position  or  numbers  at  the  command  of  his  officer. 
If  he  dies  firing  a  carbine  in  the  use  of  which  he  is 
uninstructed  (and  even  if  he  were  skilled  in  it,  it 
would  still  be  a  weapon  inferior  to  that  of  his  savage 
foe),  he  will*  be  lucky  if  he  has  a  pile  of  stones 
heaped  up  to  mark  his  grave.  If  he  lives  through 
the  fight,  he  will  have  become  somewhat  more 
accustomed  to  the  use  of  his  carbine,  and  in  the 
next  engagement  will  do  better  work  with  it.  The 
country  feeds  him  very  well,  clothes  him  tolerably 
well,  —  if  he  can  do  his  duty  so  as  to  satisfy  his 
officer,  and  if  he  does  not  catch  inflammatory 
rheumatism  from  sleeping  on  the  ground,  he  must 
be  content. 


20  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

Generally  by  the  time  a  cavalry  officer  has 
reached  middle  age,  his  exposed  life  begins  to  tell 
upon  him.  The  cavalry,  being  mounted,  are  called 
upon  to  do  most  of  the  frontier  scouting.  Some  of 
the  infantry  are  also  mounted,  especially  the  Fifth 
Infantry.  Infantry  in  such  cases  may  simply  be 
classed  as  cavalry,  though  armed  with  a  better 
weapon,  —  the  long  Springfield  rifle.  Marches  in 
the  middle  of  winter  occur  only  too  often.  In 
many  instances  the  troops  must  march  with  cooked 
rations  and  abstain  from  lighting  fires,  lest  the 
smoke  may  give  warning  to  the  Indians  whom  they 
are  pursuing,  —  and  this  with  the  thermometer 
many  degrees  below  zero.  As  the  Indian  is  as 
loath  as  a  bear  to  leave  his  winter  quarters,  and 
little  expects  the  approach  of  his  foe,  such  expedi- 
tions are  often  successful,  if  a  "  blizzard  "  does  not 
happen  to  blow.  This  blizzard,  as  it  is  termed  in 
Montana  and  Wyoming,  or  the  norther,  as  it  is 
known  in  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Texas,  is  a 
strong,  piercing  wind  from  the  North,  which  blows 
for  some  three  days,  and  smites  everything  that  is 
not  under  cover.  If  the  troops  are  spared  this 
blizzard,  they  may  strike  their  wily  foe,  who  has 
evaded  them  all  summer,  and  punish  him,  with  no 
other  casualties  than  those  incurred  from  frozen 
feet  and  fingers,  and  in  the  fortune  of  battle.  The 
quartermaster's  department  furnishes  excellent  buf- 
falo overcoats  and  fur  caps,  and  men  can  march  and 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  21 

can  live  on  cold  food  in  the  middle  of  a  bitter 
winter :  but  when  the  blizzard  comes,  the  troops 
must  seek  the  nearest  shelter,  and  use  every  means 
to  keep  themselves  alive.  In  many  instances  their 
wagons  are  broken  up  for  fuel,  as  there  are  vast 
areas  on  the  plains  where  no  timber  grows.  In  the 
sudden  changes  of  station  which  the  Government 
is  forced  to  make  with  troops,  by  reason  of  the 
smallness  of  our  army,  much  suffering  is  incurred,  — 
as  in  case  of  regiments  sent,  without  halt  for"  accli- 
mation, from  Georgia  or  Louisiana  to  the  British 
line.  But  after  the  troops  have  become  acclimatized, 
and  have  learned  to  be  always  prepared  for  the 
coldest  weather,  they  like  the  northwestern  climate, 
which  is  certainly  very  invigorating. 

On  occasion  of  any  military  expedition,  scouts 
are  hired  to  discover  the  position  and  circumstances 
of  the  "hostiles,"  as  Indians  are  called,  for  at- 
tacking whom  orders  have  been  issued.  Their 
rewards  are  usually  regulated  by  the  importance 
of  the  information  they  bring  and  the  risks  they 
have  run.  Many  of  these  men  will  do  excellent 
service,  and  sometimes  in  a  modest  way.  Many 
more,  on  the  other  hand,  will  lie  perdu  until 
their  rations  are  consumed,  and  then  come  back 
with  some  startling  but  highly  untrue  informa- 
tion. They  have  proved  themselves  to  be  not 
too  good  to  burn  the  grass,  to  efface  the  trail  of  the 
enormous  body  of  Indians  they  pretended  to  have 


22  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

seen.  These  men  usually  don  a  costume  like  that 
of  the  hero  of  a  dime  novel.  They  wear  long  hair, 
occasionally  neatly  bound  up  into  a  queue  with  a 
snake-skin.  Sometimes  they  cut  out  the  roof  of 
their  sombrero,  to  permit  their  flowing  topknots  to 
wave  forth  like  feathers.  They  use  much  of  the 
Indian's  ornament,  often  adorning  themselves  by 
sewing  elk-teeth  on  their  garments  ;  they  also  im- 
itate some  of  the  least  excusable  customs  of  the 
savage.  All  of  them  endeavor  to  adopt  some 
prefix  to  their  name.  A  Mr.  Johnson,  who  was 
drowned  in  the  Yellowstone,  acquired  the  soubri- 
quet of  Liver-eating  Johnson,  by  eating  and  pre- 
tending to  prefer  his  portion  of  liver  in  an  un- 
cooked condition  ;  and  he  was  as  well  satisfied 
with  this  name  and  the  notoriety  it  implied  as  are 
Indians  with  their  zoological  titles. 

"  Squaw-man  "  is  the  name  given  to  a  white  man 
who  has  married  one  or  more  Indian  wives,  and 
been  regularly  adopted  by  their  tribe  with  whom 
he  lives.  With  the  exception  of  being  of  occasional 
use  as  an  interpreter,  he  is  an  utterly  worthless  per- 
son. He  has  completely  left  his  own  race  and 
taken  to  the  ways  of  the  savage,  and  is  equally 
despised  by  the  whites  and  by  his  adopted  breth- 
ren. Many  of  the  woodcutters  who  supply  fuel  to 
steamboats  on  the  upper  Missouri  marry,  or  rather 
buy,  Indian  wives ;  but  they  do  not  form  part  of 
the  tribal  family,  as  does  the  "  squaw-man."     Often 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  23 

it  is  policy  for  them  to  take  wives  from  tribes 
which  are  dangerous  to  their  safety.  A  wife  in- 
sures protection  from  the  depredations  of  her  tribe  ; 
and  when  her  lord  and  master  is  tired  of  her,  or 
wishes  to  form  other  business  relations,  he  simply 
tells  her  and  her  progeny  to  go  home.  These  men 
have  the  reputation  of  being  most  active  agents  in 
supplying  ammunition  to  the  Indians. 

At  the  border  of  the  British  possessions,  some- 
times on  our  side  and  sometimes  to  the  north,  are 
several  thousands  of  half-breeds  who  seem  de- 
scended from  French  and  Scotch  fathers.  They 
speak  Cree  and  some  of  the  other  Indian  tongues, 
but  customarily  use  a  French  patots  which  is  easily 
understood.  Their  government  seems  to  be  found- 
ed on  the  old  patriarchal  system.  They  are  strict 
Catholics,  and  are  duly  married  by  a  priest,  who 
makes  occasional  visits  to  them,  and  insists  upon 
legally  uniting  in  wedlock  such  couples  as  he 
thinks  have  proved  this  ceremony  to  be  necessary. 
They  lead  a  nomadic  life,  trading  between  the 
whites  and  the  Indians,  supplying  the  latter  with 
ammunition,  subsisting  mostly  on  game  and  buf- 
falo. The  latter  they  make  up  into  pemmican, —  a 
large  bundle  of  finely  chopped  fat  and  lean,  sea- 
soned with  wild  herbs,  and  tightly  wrapped  up  in 
buffalo-hide.  This  they  sell,  or  keep  for  winter 
use.  They  travel  in  curious  one-horse  carts,  in  the 
manufacture  of  which  little  or  no  iron  is  used,  the 


24  FRONTIER   FOLK. 

pinning  being  done  with  wood,  and  the  wheels 
bound  together  with  thongs  of  green  buffalo-hide, 
which  shrink  as  they  dry.  As  these  carts  will 
float  in  water,  an  unfordable  stream  can  be  crossed 
by  swimming  the  horses  attached  to  the  shafts. 
These  people  always  camp  with  their  carts  in  a 
circle,  the  shafts  towards  the  centre,  and  the  carts 
prove  an  effective  barricade  against  any  enemy 
without  cannon.  Their  stock  is  corralled  every 
night  inside  the  circle.  These  half-breeds  must  be 
classed  more  as  Indians  than  as  whites,  as  their 
actions,  habits,  and  beliefs  are  inherited  more  from 
their  mothers  than  from  their  fathers. 

A  great  and  always  remunerative  pursuit  on  the 
frontier  is  that  of  cattle-raising.  A  well-selected 
range,  near  streams  which  do  not  dry  up  in  sum- 
mer, and  with  timber,  or  such  undulations  of  the 
ground  as  would  afford  shelter  for  the  beasts  from 
the  worst  winter's  winds,  together  with  a  small 
capital  and  reasonable  care  and  exertion,  will  in  a 
few  years  produce  a  fortune,  —  and  not  only  a  for- 
tune, but  robust  health  for  the  herder.  The  season 
when  he  is  away  from  his  cabin,  herding  up  his 
cattle,  is  mild  enough  to  allow  sleeping  on  the 
ground.  He  is  not  compelled,  like  the  soldier,  at 
times  to  endure  the  blizzard  or  to  sleep  in  the 
snow.  Many  young  men  engaged  in  cattle-raising 
are  of  excellent  education  and  social  position,  and 
very  much  attached  to  the  life  they  lead  ;  and  well 


FRONTIER  FOLK.  2$ 

they  may  be,  as  it  gives  them  all  the  pleasure  the 
frontier  can  afford  with  no  more  hardship  than  is 
good  for  them.  Choosing  congenial  companions, 
they  build  a  comfortable  ranch,  stock  it  well  with 
books,  and  employ  men  to  assist  in  the  rougher 
duties,  either  by  hiring  them  with  fixed  wages  or 
giving  them  an  interest  in  the  herd.  The  day  is 
passed  in  the  saddle,  the  evening  before  a  crack- 
ling wood-fire.  The  only  time  when  great  exertion 
is  necessary  is  during  the  "roundings  up";  then 
their  whole  property  in  cattle  must  be  brought 
together,  the  young  calves  branded,  and  the  brands 
of  their  parents  retouched  if  effaced.  There  is  no 
animal  near  by  powerful  enough  to  destroy  cattle, 
and  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  their  yearly  in- 
crease. The  Indians  may  kill  one  now  and  then 
for  food,  but  cannot  drive  them  off,  as  their  move- 
ment is  too  slow.  Cattle-stealing  is  not  so  easy  as 
horse-stealing. 

All  these  frontier  folk  eat,  drink,  and  live,  and 
after  their  manner  enjoy  life.  We  can  perceive 
that  they  have  occasional  hardships,  but'  they  have 
pleasures  which  may  not  be  so  easily  understood 
by  people  who  live  in  comfortable  houses,  and  drive 
in  well-hung  and  well-cushioned  carriages,  or  walk 
paved  streets.  A  life  in  the  open  air,  freedom  from 
restraint,  and  a  vigorous  appetite,  generally  finding 
a  hearty  meal  to  satisfy  it,  make  difficult  a  return 
to  the  humdrum  of  steady  work  and  comparative 


26  FRONTIER  FOLK. 

respectability.  They  have  their  place  in  the  drama 
of  our  national  life,  for  better  or  for  worse,  and 
their  pursuits  and  character  must  be  recognized 
and  studied  by  any  one  who  would  comprehend  our 
great  Western  country. 


